California Department of Cannabis Control Proposes Emergency Regulations

by Omar Figueroa

September 8, 2021

Today, the Department of Cannabis Control (DCC) published proposed emergency regulations.  This is the second step after the DCC took action in July to move all cannabis regulations into Title 4 of the California Code of Regulations.  The proposed emergency regulations are intended to consolidate, clarify and make consistent requirements, including:

• Aligning license application requirements
• Clarifying ownership and financial interest of a cannabis business
• Establishing uniform terminology and definitions across license types

These proposed regulations also include rules governing trade samples between businesses, which was recently authorized by Assembly Bill 141.

The announcement of the proposed regulations starts a public notice period which will be followed by a public comment period.  At this time, information on how to provide public comment has not yet been made available, but it is anticipated that such information will soon be made available by DCC.

DCC gave notice of the proposed adoption of the emergency regulations on September 8, 2021. DCC will file the emergency rules with the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) after the required five-working day notice to the public.  If approved by the OAL, the proposed regulations would become effective at the end of September.

After the emergency rulemaking process is completed, the DCC is anticipated to continue to “further improve the regulations for commercial cannabis activity.”

The proposed regulations and supporting documents are linked below:

• Finding of Emergency and Notice of Proposed Emergency Regulations.PDF
• Text of Regulations.PDF
• Disciplinary Guidelines.PDF
• Forms: 
  • DCC-LIC-015.PDF
  • DCC-LIC-016.PDF
  • DCC-LIC-017.PDF
  • DCC-LIC-018.PDF
  • DCC-LIC-020.PDF
  • DCC-LIC-021.PDF
  • DCC-LIC-022.PDF
  • DCC-LIC-023.PDF
  • DCC-LIC-024.PDF
  • DCC-LIC-027.PDF
  • DCC-LIC-028.PDF
  • DCC-LIC-029.PDF

 

Update (9/15/21): DCC gave notice today that the proposed emergency regulations have been filed with OAL and the 5-day public comment period has begun. Thus, comments must be submitted by Monday, September 20. To submit a comment, send your comment to both OAL and DCC by mail or email:

For a deeper dive into the proposed emergency regulations, check out our follow-up post here.

 

The information herein is provided as a public educational service and is not intended as legal advice. For specific questions regarding the Department of Cannabis Control regulations, please contact the Law Offices of Omar Figueroa at 707-829-0215 or info@omarfigueroa.com to schedule a confidential legal consultation.